Learning Outcome 3: Employ techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning, and thinking.

Introduction

When it came to annotating and my own personal experience doing so, I read through the article in its entirety to start the process. I refrained from noting any questions I had or things I found interesting. Once I had read through the article without any interruptions, I went back and slowed things down by quite a bit. Each paragraph was well combed and I looked specifically for things I didn’t understand. I marked it as a potential question only if I thought the answer to the question would broaden my understanding of not just the article, but also the study. The same was done for things I found interesting, but instead of marking it for my own understanding, I marked it as a highlightable point.

Personally, I believe this tells me that my annotating is useful in regard to the “conversation” I am having with the author. By annotating, I am taking the time to read the article multiple times over and ensuring my knowledge on the subject is secured.

An example of a question that I annotated below would be the one in which involves the two schools in Hawaii and Washington, and why they were chosen to be connected for the study. An example of interest that I annotated would be the one that is listed as being on page 30. The article and study have a huge focus on the fact that Hawaii students aren’t interested in marine biology. I made a point of making this the first interesting point I annotated, although it is the main focus it still caught me off guard.

Journal Entry

The main idea of this article is that by giving students early access to hands on, place based experiential learning, they will be more likely to pursue careers in marine sciences. The participants are specifically local Hawaiians that live and go to schools around the facility, this is because the program wanted to increase the amount of locals that are pursuing careers in marine science, they also invested extra interest in getting more women interested in the program. So the study wanted to look at out of all of the participants how many would go into marine science, and if this program would raise the total number of local Hawaiians going into marine science, so the variables would be number of Hawaiian marine scientists over time, to determine if the program is successful or not. 

Because the study is still in its fledgling stages, and it will take over 18 years to get a good data set of how many of the participants go into marine sciences, the findings are limited to how many students are interested in the field. They found that 50% of the students said that they experienced a life altering opinion change about science, and the students also displayed a greater amount of realization and awareness of important scientific issues like climate change. Because we don’t know how many of these participants became marine science majors, I can say that this study doesn’t really show a cause and effect relationship, but instead shows a relationship between the program and the students having a greater appreciation towards

Text Posts:

Q1:

“Using both experimental and place-based learning” (p. 32)

What can place-based learning be defined as? And what kind of activities could be used as key components? Later on the article discusses an approach to outreach and scientific technology being introduced, but specifics are never given.

Q2:

“This program brought together schools” (p. 32)

This quote in its entirety talks about how Hawaii and Washington schools were connected share what they know about marine environments. Why was Washington the state that was chosen to share knowledge with?

Q3:

“The schools selected included a public” (p. 32-33)

In the same general idea as the last question, I’m curious as to why the specific schools chosen were chosen. Also if they had any specific relevance in terms of location.

I1

“Yet for a state enclosed by” (p. 30)

I found it extremely shocking that the interest for Marine biology in Hawaii is so low. I would have also assumed, like the author, that an island state would have a large percentage of people interested in the ocean.

I2

“One goal of HIMB’s outreach is” (p. 31)

I find it interesting and appreciate that the outreach is not only promoting local interest but working towards promoting the inclusion of females to have an increase in female participation in the marine sciences.

I3

“However, many schools are unable” (p. 32)

I took note of this quote because it surprised me that Hawaii either in one area, or in general, not specified. Doesn’t have the funding for field trips for children to take and/or doesn’t have the initiative to bring students to the oceans.

C1

“Career days also reach hundreds of” (p. 32)

This was first clear connection I could make. I recall my school often putting on career days. I know first hand that they can do all the things mentioned even in the specific context of the article. there was a career fair and poster at my school advertising various fields in science, which is where I found myself going.

C2

“This designation gave way to the” (p. 30)

I only made note of the sentence, but the whole paragraph is relevant. It is another personal connection that I could make. The research reserve that I inhabited in Costa Rica was in a similar situation. This is the same reserve that is mentioned in my finalized paper and they were part of/nearby a massive protected area. They were very passionate about the area and educating me about it so it is not hard to believe that the Hawaii reserve would be the same.

C3

“Such observational skills are critical” (p. 31)

Growing up I had a great awareness to my location, but I wasn’t alone. I can connect this idea to both myself and my peers. Being raised on the seacoast of northern United States, I became alerted to the effects fo climate change at a young age. I learned quickly how my area would be affected and so were the people I study alongside. Having the observational skills are very critical to understanding the science of situations.